Whipple and Lowering Expectations

[Mr. Monaca]

I've never met Mark Whipple and I've never really taken notice to his coaching over the years. I trust that he's a great guy, is a solid teacher and runs a good multiple offense. However in the few interviews I've seen with him so far, he certainly doesn't go overboard in raising anyone's expectations about the Pitt offense this year. Whether it's by his natural demeanor or through his lengthy experience of managing fans' expectations, his interviews are like a bag of dry bones. I'm not complaining...I would much rather have low expectations and be pleasantly surprised, than the other way around. But if his offense resembles the content of his interviews (and I suspect/hope it will not) then we're in for a very bland offensive season.

Don't take this too seriously...I didn't intend to be very serious about it. I'm not trying to establish a link between his on-air personality and his offensive mindset. Just an observation. I must be getting a little too excited for the start of the season...looking for something exciting about our prospects for the year and not getting enough of that kind of content.

 

[PittMan 72]

I've never met Mark Whipple and I've never really taken notice to his coaching over the years. I trust that he's a great guy, is a solid teacher and runs a good multiple offense. However in the few interviews I've seen with him so far, he certainly doesn't go overboard in raising anyone's expectations about the Pitt offense this year. Whether it's by his natural demeanor or through his lengthy experience of managing fans' expectations, his interviews are like a bag of dry bones. I'm not complaining...I would much rather have low expectations and be pleasantly surprised, than the other way around. But if his offense resembles the content of his interviews (and I suspect/hope it will not) then we're in for a very bland offensive season.

Don't take this too seriously...I didn't intend to be very serious about it. I'm not trying to establish a link between his on-air personality and his offensive mindset. Just an observation. I must be getting a little too excited for the start of the season...looking for something exciting about our prospects for the year and not getting enough of that kind of content.

Under promise. Over achieve. Always a good approach.

 

[Mr. Monaca]

Under promise. Over achieve. Always a good approach.

Agreed.

 

[bayardstreet]

I like the fact that he is pretty low key. Don’t give much detail. He might as well have the clip board in from of his mouth so the competition can’t read his lips.

 

[anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr]

Probably has no idea what he really has until first game. You can be amazing in practice and suck on game day.

 

[9nationalchampionships]

Coordinators make their living on adjustments made within the game. Let's see what happens vs VA so we can assess Coach Whipple. We will know soon enough.

 

[PittMan 72]

Coordinators make their living on adjustments made within the game. Let's see what happens vs VA so we can assess Coach Whipple. We will know soon enough.

Yes. ^^^^This!^^^^ At least that's what the very good ones do. Game planning is one thing. Making the proper adjustments to take apart a defense in-game, with very little preparation time and based on real-time observations of the opponent, is something quite different. Hopefully Whipple is masterful at it!

 

[RaleighPittFan]

Coordinators make their living on adjustments made within the game. Let's see what happens vs VA so we can assess Coach Whipple. We will know soon enough.

"We thought they were going to run the ball." /[ Wanny post game after Rutgers lit Pitt up through the air.

 

[thebadby2]

Probably has no idea what he really has until first game. You can be amazing in practice and suck on game day.

Or he knows exactly what he has and has some reservations about i how they’re going to perform.

 

[jrnPitt]

Or he knows exactly what he has and has some reservations about i how they’re going to perform.

Not knowing what opposition defense will show up any given week makes one having to pause before predicting success. Whipple has adjusted his offenses in the past to take advantage of what the opposition gives him. Thus I believe he has enough weapons at Pitt to do the same with some success.

 

[Las Panteras]

Not knowing what opposition defense will show up any given week makes one having to pause before predicting success. Whipple has adjusted his offenses in the past to take advantage of what the opposition gives him. Thus I believe he has enough weapons at Pitt to do the same with some success.

He may have enough weapons, but he also has a QB that turtles on 3rd and 7 with pressure from all sides.

No QB guru coach can fix that.

I hope Whipple can straighten out this kid, but if we start out 1-2 I think we are getting our Beville on.

 

[PittMan 72]

"We thought they were going to run the ball." /[ Wanny post game after Rutgers lit Pitt up through the air.

LOL!!! I guess I can chuckle about that now but certainly not back in 2008. Rivals 2* rated QB Mike Teel.
361 yds passing and 6 TD passes. On only 14 completions. Oh, boy!!!

 

[pittdan77]

Remember last August when this board was screaming "Kenny Heisman" and Shawn Watson was talking up the offense?

This is fine.

 

[HopeandChangeforAntoons]

LOL!!! I guess I can chuckle about that now but certainly not back in 2008. Rivals 2* rated QB Mike Teel.
361 yds passing and 6 TD passes. On only 14 completions. Oh, boy!!!

I'm thinking that might have had more to do with Ricky Gary & company trying to cover Kenny Britt.

 

[jivecat]

The consistent message I have heard about Whipple is he is going to adjust the offense mid game. Sometimes adjustments do not work the first, second, or third time....but he needs to learn what type of weapons he has and how efficient they will work with his adjustments.

You can run the same play 100 times if it works....you can run 100 different plays if it works.

 

[PittMan 72]

I'm thinking that might have had more to do with Ricky Gary & company trying to cover Kenny Britt.

That certainly didn't help. But Pitt was continually biting on play action all game long: gambling to stop the run with numbers coming forward. Bad job of individual coverage by the secondary, but also a horrific failure on the part of the coaches in that game.

 

[thebadby2]

Not knowing what opposition defense will show up any given week makes one having to pause before predicting success. Whipple has adjusted his offenses in the past to take advantage of what the opposition gives him. Thus I believe he has enough weapons at Pitt to do the same with some success.

Well he hasn't exactly been gushing superlatives about his players and QB, or about how ready they are, this fall. He's about as lackluster an interview as I've ever seen. Maybe that's just his way, or maybe he's not that confident in his personnel.

I am not confident that Pickett is up to the task but that's just a gut feeling.

Like someone else said, we'll find out a lot more on 8/31.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

rather have a teacher, someone with more of an educator approach than one screaming and ranting, trying to motivate and not teach. for an OC anyways.. let the position coaches be the guys on the sidelines screaming in players faces and jumping up and down. I don't want my OC to be that guy..

this guy has been around college and nfl. i don't think he's gonna see anything on the field this year, good or bad, that will make him go nuts.

 

[YUK2]

Seriously, I’d much rather him be Ho-hum that going around saying “High Octane!”.

 

[djbpitt]

I've never met Mark Whipple and I've never really taken notice to his coaching over the years. I trust that he's a great guy, is a solid teacher and runs a good multiple offense. However in the few interviews I've seen with him so far, he certainly doesn't go overboard in raising anyone's expectations about the Pitt offense this year. Whether it's by his natural demeanor or through his lengthy experience of managing fans' expectations, his interviews are like a bag of dry bones. I'm not complaining...I would much rather have low expectations and be pleasantly surprised, than the other way around. But if his offense resembles the content of his interviews (and I suspect/hope it will not) then we're in for a very bland offensive season.

Don't take this too seriously...I didn't intend to be very serious about it. I'm not trying to establish a link between his on-air personality and his offensive mindset. Just an observation. I must be getting a little too excited for the start of the season...looking for something exciting about our prospects for the year and not getting enough of that kind of content.

He's a magna cum laude graduate of the Paul J. Chryst School of Communications.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

He may have enough weapons, but he also has a QB that turtles on 3rd and 7 with pressure from all sides.

No QB guru coach can fix that.

I hope Whipple can straighten out this kid, but if we start out 1-2 I think we are getting our Beville on.

I know folks want Beville already but I can't imagine, unless it's completely dire, that he's not RS this year. I see 4 games as the absolute max me plays.

Patti and George will each get a shot before Beville.

That said, provided he's healthy, think Pickett starts this entire season.


Also, 1-2 and the switch is necessary? So if Pitt loses to UVa h(the favorite to win their division)a at PSU (Top 15 team with arguably the most lauded D in the B1G coming into the season) under a new O coordinator, with mostly a new OL versus two of the three best defenses they'll face this season, you make the switch? Seems a bit silly. I'd say Pickett would have to play horribly for that to happen. Regardless, any switch would likely happen in and around the Delaware game or later in the season.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

I know folks want Beville already but I can't imagine, unless it's completely dire, that he's not RS this year. I see 4 games as the absolute max me plays.

Patti and George will each get a shot before Beville.

That said, provided he's healthy, think Pickett starts this entire season.

i agree but i'd be curious who goes in if Pickett gets injured and would that be different if it was only for a series or two compared to 2 or more games?

If pickett went out for a series, i think George would go in. If pickett was out for 4 weeks, i think Patti would go in. Don't ask me why i think this, i have nothing to back it up, at all.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

i agree but i'd be curious who goes in if Pickett gets injured and would that be different if it was only for a series or two compared to 2 or more games?

If pickett went out for a series, i think George would go in. If pickett was out for 4 weeks, i think Patti would go in. Don't ask me why i think this, i have nothing to back it up, at all.

I think this too. Because there's little separation between them and Patti makes more sense for program going forward. Get at good look it him.

 

[bignorthu2]

Patti would go in because he's the true #2 at this time. George is an OR to push Patti. If you watch the clips of the practices, Patti is always with KP taking the next set of 1st team reps...they always use a true pecking order in practices. Last year, it was the opposite where Patti was behind Town then was behind George and put on practice squad, just like Beville is now. I doubt Beville leaves practice squad this year because Pitt really does have a plan for developing QBs when they have enough of them. Beville will learn against the Pitt 1st string defense, like Patti did last year. The only two things that would change anything regarding "the plan" is if KP is hurt or terrible. Patti would go in, George backup, Beville off practice squad and Eli K #1 on practice squad, potentially. They really do have a plan, although in the past it didn't seem like it with DiNucci, Browne, etc. Plan was for KP to play practice squad his freshman year and get used to the speed of the game, but pressure was there to move him up when offense sputtered. Best laid plans...

 

[superstein61a]

Good article today in the PG about Whipple and his offense

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports...berger-week-one-virginia/stories/201908260009

While I would have preferred someone rooted in the Mike Leach offensive philosophy, it is clear Narduzzi wasn't going full spread so Whipple makes a lot of sense. Sure, he may not be talking his O up - but results on the field are what counts. These excerpts stuck out in the article:

Ah, “pro-style.” A convenient term thrown around in bar conversations across Oakland, one that’s been used in passing to portray Whipple’s scheme. But in a lot of ways, “pro-style” is an overly general way to describe a system that’s been dubbed “complex” and “limitless” by Pitt players in recent weeks.

When asked to accurately characterize Whipple’s system, former and current players alike have used one slightly less general word: multiple. “It’s pro-style in a terminology sense,” former Penn State and UMass tight end Adam Breneman said. “But really, it’s unconventional.”

How so? As quarterback Andrew Ford explained, 200 base plays are installed by the end of fall camp. Then, once the season rolls around, 10 to 12 new plays are added each week based on what the opposing defense shows on film.

. . .

“One thing that coach Whipple is probably the best in the business at is adapting his offense to the personnel he has,” Breneman said. “In my opinion, that’s what separates good coordinators from great coordinators. And quite frankly, that’s why Penn State had problems for a while in the early (James) Franklin years. They were trying to fit a certain offense in, no matter who the players were.”

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

Patti would go in because he's the true #2 at this time. George is an OR to push Patti. If you watch the clips of the practices, Patti is always with KP taking the next set of 1st team reps...they always use a true pecking order in practices. Last year, it was the opposite where Patti was behind Town then was behind George and put on practice squad, just like Beville is now. I doubt Beville leaves practice squad this year because Pitt really does have a plan for developing QBs when they have enough of them. Beville will learn against the Pitt 1st string defense, like Patti did last year. The only two things that would change anything regarding "the plan" is if KP is hurt or terrible. Patti would go in, George backup, Beville off practice squad and Eli K #1 on practice squad, potentially. They really do have a plan, although in the past it didn't seem like it with DiNucci, Browne, etc. Plan was for KP to play practice squad his freshman year and get used to the speed of the game, but pressure was there to move him up when offense sputtered. Best laid plans...

I hope to hell Narduzzi doesn’t pull a McVittie with Beville: you know, where he talks up a QB recruit with the “Wait until you see this kid play” sh!+ and then never gives him a shot in a real game before the kid decides to transfers out.

I get that Beville is just a freshman, but PN ought to be talking him up more than he is. He keeps saying to the media that George and Patti are the only two competing for the backup with no mention of Beville. If Narduzzi believed Beville was worth talking up (and his HS tape seems to back up that notion), then he should at least mention him as also competing and right in there with the other two.

The two veteran backups may prove to be solid, but it’s not like Patti was the most coveted 4-star recruit and it’s not like George was lighting it up at Illinois (11 TDs and 15 INTs). Would it hurt for PN to say, “Beville is an option to play too.

To decided to redshirt Beville this season (should Pickett play well) is one thing. To not even mention him as an potential option before we know how well Pickett will play on game day is another thing altogether.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Remember last August when this board was screaming "Kenny Heisman" and Shawn Watson was talking up the offense?

This is fine.

Only as jokes

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Good article today in the PG about Whipple and his offense

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports...berger-week-one-virginia/stories/201908260009

While I would have preferred someone rooted in the Mike Leach offensive philosophy, it is clear Narduzzi wasn't going full spread so Whipple makes a lot of sense. Sure, he may not be talking his O up - but results on the field are what counts. These excerpts stuck out in the article:

Ah, “pro-style.” A convenient term thrown around in bar conversations across Oakland, one that’s been used in passing to portray Whipple’s scheme. But in a lot of ways, “pro-style” is an overly general way to describe a system that’s been dubbed “complex” and “limitless” by Pitt players in recent weeks.

When asked to accurately characterize Whipple’s system, former and current players alike have used one slightly less general word: multiple. “It’s pro-style in a terminology sense,” former Penn State and UMass tight end Adam Breneman said. “But really, it’s unconventional.”

How so? As quarterback Andrew Ford explained, 200 base plays are installed by the end of fall camp. Then, once the season rolls around, 10 to 12 new plays are added each week based on what the opposing defense shows on film.

. . .

“One thing that coach Whipple is probably the best in the business at is adapting his offense to the personnel he has,” Breneman said. “In my opinion, that’s what separates good coordinators from great coordinators. And quite frankly, that’s why Penn State had problems for a while in the early (James) Franklin years. They were trying to fit a certain offense in, no matter who the players were.”

This is what- the 4th offensive coordinator in 6 years.

I don’t think narduzzi is married to any concept